Mirror Images
by 14faraday
Summary: I have trouble accepting that Buffy would be willing to take a human life, even after all Faith did to her and Angel. So, I give you my little spin on how things could have happened.


I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of Joss' incredible characters

Buffy strode into Faith's apartment, an odd sense of calm running through her veins. She saw Faith on the bed, reading a magazine and listening to music that was way too loud. She just stood there, Faith knew she was here; she didn't need to say anything.

Finally Faith turned around and stared at Buffy, "Is he dead yet?"

"Nope, and there is a good chance that he won't die. See there is a cure to the poison, and luckily for us, we have exactly what he needs, in excess even," Buffy told the brunette calmly.

Faith stood up, ready for a fight, "And why do you feel the need to tell me about the cure if you have it in abundance?"

Buffy smile lightly, "Because you and I are the cure. The poison can only be cured by draining the blood of a Slayer."

"So are you here to kill me B?" Faith asked with disbelief.

"No," Buffy shook her head, "I'm here to tell you that if I die tonight, when I give Angel my blood, that you will be the only Slayer left, and that I expect you to do the right thing. I don't know how to stop the Mayor, but I have a feeling that you at least have an idea. The world needs you, and if I have to die, again, to make you see that then so be it. I just thought I would give you a heads up."

Faith stared stunned as Buffy turned and walked out the door, not even sparing a glance back. After a moment she shook herself out of her reverie, and sprinted after the smaller Slayer. She caught up to her just outside the apartment. "You can't just kill yourself!"

Buffy turned around, still so calm, "I don't plan on dying, but there is a chance, and I thought you should be aware that things could take a drastic change."

Faith felt a burning rage and she couldn't explain why, "What the fuck is wrong with you? You should be trying to kill, me, feed me to your boyfriend. Why are you willing to die for a guy that is leaving you, when you could kill your enemy?"

"Oh, I don't know, because you aren't my enemy?"

"Yes I am! I tried to steal Angel's soul, tried to torture you, and killed two innocent humans. I am everything that you are supposed to fight!" Faith shouted.

Buffy smiled sadly, "Why do you want me to hate you Faith? Is it because it makes everything easier for you if you are the victim? Well that isn't going to happen, I am going to force you to grow up. Even if I survive this tonight, I am going to expect you to help me. I know that is what you really want to do; it's what you were born to do. You are lost right now Faith, but I am going to show you the lighted path. You don't have to take it, but you will always regret it if you don't."

Faith did nothing as Buffy once again walked away. She couldn't. She refused to let anything that Buffy had said to her mean anything.

About twenty minutes later Faith felt something wrong. She knew it was Buffy, and without a second thought she raced off into the night, following the feeling of their Slayer Bond. The feeling led her to the hospital, where she saw Angel talking to the Scoobies. He looked so ashamed of himself, and Faith knew what it meant. Using all the stealth she possessed, the dark Slayer slipped into Buffy's room. What she saw nearly broke her. Buffy was lying in the hospital bed, tubes coming out of everywhere. She could still feel the Slayer Bond, but it was fading.

"Why the Hell did you do it B?" Faith whispered, hand touching the blonde's cheek.

"She did it because she couldn't let a champion die," Giles said from the doorway.

Faith whirled around, ready to make a dash for the window, "She could have killed me."

Giles shook his head, "You really don't understand her do you? Angel isn't the only one she is trying to save."

"I ain't no champion G-man," Faith insisted.

"A few days ago and I would have agreed with you. A few hours ago I would have agreed with you. But I have discovered that Buffy has this annoying habit of being right when it comes to Slayer things, and if she believes that you can redeem yourself, then I believe it too."

Faith looked back to Buffy, and couldn't hide the concern in her voice, "Is she going to be ok?"

Giles removed his glasses and began to clean them, "I hope so. Angel drained almost all of her blood, and when they fell to the floor she hit her head pretty hard. It isn't easy to recover from something like that, even if she is a Slayer."

Faith stared at Buffy for a long time; she didn't know what to do. It would be so easy to just go back to the Mayor, share the happy news, and prepare for Graduation. But despite everything that she did, she never really wanted Buffy to get hurt, let alone die. "I want to help you."

**Eight months later**

Faith sat by the beeping bed, not moving. This was what she always did, every day until the sun went down. She would just sit by the bed that was the home to a comatose Buffy, and watch the blonde, praying she would open her hazel eyes. Her prayers got more and more desperate each day, but she never quit coming. She couldn't.

"When was the last time you ate a good meal?" Joyce asked as she entered the hospital room.

Faith didn't bother looking at the older Summers, "Last Christmas, when I ate at your house."

Joyce sighed and looked at the young girl. Faith was a shell of her former self. No longer did she have that zest for life, the fire burning in her eyes. She was broken, beat, and unable to come to terms with her mistakes. At night she slayed, during the day she sat by Buffy's side, barely eating. It was a miracle she hadn't killed herself yet.

"Faith, I don't completely understand what you went through, what you did, but I think you are being far too hard on yourself. The others have forgiven you. From what I have heard, Buffy forgave you, why do you insist on punishing yourself?"

Faith took her eyes off of Buffy, "Because I failed her. I shouldn't have killed Finch, I shouldn't have tried to convince everyone that she did it, I shouldn't have turned to the Mayor, I shouldn't have poisoned Angel, and I shouldn't have let her be the one to give up her blood. It should have been my blood, I failed her."

Joyce felt her heart breaking, "Faith, you helped defeat the Mayor, he couldn't have been defeated without you. You did what was right when it truly mattered. You were lost, but you found your way again. And I don't want you to take this new chance at life and throw it away because you are so hung up on what you did to Buffy."

Faith tried to suppress the tears that had begun to fall eight months ago, "You don't understand Mrs. S, I …"

"I do understand Faith. I think that this is the one thing that I do understand. I also think that I am the only one who understands. I saw the way the two of you acted around one another, how you could get so wrapped up in the other. I saw how everything you did you did because of your feelings for Buffy."

Faith gave out a hallow laugh, "You almost understand. If you truly understood then you wouldn't have used the past tense. Everything that I do, I do because of my feelings for her. I think I always have, even before I knew her. Everything led me to her."

Joyce sighed again, "So why can't you just come out and say that you love her? I think it would do you some good if you just came clean about it."

Faith looked back at Buffy, "Because if it ever gets said, it needs to be said to her."

Mrs. Summers nodded her head and sat down in the chair next to Faith, "I can accept that. But if you don't say it to her when she wakes up, then I am going to have to hurt you Faith. If only so you don't hurt yourself anymore."

Faith laughed again, this time without the despair, "Why do I think you could really do some damage if you wanted to?"

"Because you are smarter than you think," Joyce told her, glad that at least a small spark of Faith still existed.

Two more weeks went by, and Faith seemed to be doing a little bit better. Instead of her strictly slaying at night, she went out with the others. She had some fun, not a lot, but she didn't want to have a lot of fun. She learned that Willow was now spending most of her free time with a girl named Tara, and that there was a good chance there was more to their relationship than Willow was letting on. Xander was dating Anya, and they seemed like they really cared about each other.

Faith had been aware that there was a military organization fucking things up, but she didn't give them much thought. That is until Willow informs her that they have created a monster that seems to be too hard to kill, some kind of freaky Frankenstein monster. Faith was also informed that the nice college boy Willow liked to hang out with from time to time was a member of this secret organization, that it was called the Initiative.

"So what do you think that we should do?" Anya asked as they sat down in the Bronze.

Faith shrugged her shoulders, "Sounds pretty simple to me, he's a demon, I'm a Slayer. What do you think I am going to do?"

Willow shook her head, "I don't think that it is going to be that simple. I have been hacking into the Initiative's files, and this thing, Adam, is stronger than anything we've faced so far."

"Why don't we just blow him up? Worked for us the last time," Xander suggested hopefully,

Faith opened her mouth to make a sarcastic comment when she felt something. Everyone noticed the change in her, the way her entire body tensed. Tara asked, "What's wrong?"

"Buffy, she's waking up." Before anyone knew what was happening Faith was out of the Bronze and at a dead sprint to reach the hospital.

When she entered Buffy's room, her breath caught in her throat as she saw the blonde stirring. She couldn't believe that after all this time, Buffy was finally about to wake up. Carefully, as if afraid it may all just be a dream; Faith inched closer to the bedside. Slowly hazel green eyes fluttered open.

"Faith?" the elder Slayer croaked.

"I'm here B."

Buffy licked her lips, "What's going on, where am I?"

Faith could feel the now familiar sting of tears begin to form, "You are in the hospital. You have been in a coma for the past eight months."

This revelation was followed by silence, but Faith didn't press anything, it was a lot to digest. When Buffy finally spoke, she sounded rather smug, "I told you you'd do the right thing."

Faith laughed, "Yeah, you sure did."

Buffy locked eyes with the dark Slayer, "You think you could get some food in here, I am starving. And I haven't even been in a good fight for eight months."

Faith flashed a dimpled smile, "I knew you got the H&H's."

As Faith left the room, to tell the doctors Buffy was awake, the Scooby gang came running. They froze when they saw the conscious Slayer looking back at them. Then it was a tidal wave as they all rushed the blonde, tears of joy in all their eyes.

"I can't believe you are awake!"

"I missed you so much Buff!"

"It's about time you woke up!"

"Hey guys," Buffy said weakly. She was already starting to feel a little drained.

"Buffy?" came the soft voice from the doorway. Joyce couldn't believe that her daughter was really awake, but she knew that she had never felt so happy in her entire life. She didn't say anything else as she wrapped the girl in her arms and just held her. She had to let go when the doctors came in to inspect Buffy, but she didn't leave the room, and neither did Faith.

"Seriously, I am not spending another night in the hospital," Buffy told her mother, arms folded across her chest. "I hate hospitals, and I am perfectly capable of walking out of here right this minute."

The older Summers just matched her daughter's stare, "I don't care if you can do cart-wheels out of this building, you are not leaving until the doctors give you the ok."

"But mom!" protested Buffy, "I am a Slayer, and they won't be able to believe how quickly I recover, and it could lead to questions that they won't believe the answers to."

"Well that is just a risk that we are going to make. You have only been awake for three days, and they aren't done running tests on you yet."

"Did I come at a bad time?" Faith asked as she sauntered into the room.

Buffy huffed, "Not if you can convince my mother that I should be able to go home, and sleep in my own bed."

Faith held up her hands, "I am not so stupid that I am going to get in the middle of a fight between the two of you."

"Don't be silly Faith, you can tell Buffy that she needs to stay here for a few more days," Joyce told her.

Deciding it would be better if she just changed the subject, Faith laid the stack of magazines on the stand next to Buffy, "I thought you might like to catch up on all that you've missed out on. Wasn't really sure which magazines you read, so I just grabbed a lot of them."

Buffy gave Faith a bright smile, "Thanks."

Joyce looked between the two girls and couldn't hide her own smile. She only hoped that they would be able to be honest with each other about their feelings. She wanted them both to be happy, and it was looking like they could only manage that if they were together.

"I just remembered that I have something that I need to take care of at the gallery, I will be back in a couple of hours," Joyce said, almost believing her own lie.

The two Slayers sat in a comfortable silence, Buffy in the bed and Faith in the chair right next to her. Faith knows that there is a lot that the two need to talk about, but she is so scared that once they start talking about the past they won't be able to return to this peace between the two of them. So she stays silent, and relishes at being in the presence of Buffy.

Buffy can tell that Faith has something on her mind, she doesn't know how she knows, but she does. Just like she knows that whatever it is shouldn't be pushed. Faith will talk when she is ready to, and pushing her will just end badly.

An hour goes by and still nothing has been said, and while it is still comfortable, Faith can only handle so much silence before she goes a little mad. "So, there is a new big bad in town, some freaky ass Frankenstein thing. I saw him once, and I couldn't even hurt him. It is going to take some creativity if we want to kill him."

Buffy looked at Faith and couldn't help but laugh. At Faith's confused look Buffy said, "It's funny, not the part about the super demon, but the fact that that is what you chose to break the silence with. I can honestly say that I did not expect you to say something so serious. I was preparing myself for one of your "Faith" comments."

"A 'Faith' comment?" Faith asked while raising an eyebrow.

Buffy nodded her head, "Yeah, one of your dirty, perverted comments that make me blush and you grin."

"What could I say to you after you have been in a coma for eight months that would be dirty?" Faith wanted to know.

Buffy shrugged, "I don't know, I don't think like you do. Thank God."

"Thanks, B, that really means a lot to me," Faith replied sarcastically.

"Anytime, F. Now, do you think that you could do me a favor?" Buffy asked hopefully,

Faith felt like she was being lured into a trap, but she bit, "What do you want me to do?"

Buffy gave her most innocent look, and Faith felt herself turn to mush, "Nothing much, just bring me some real food. I think I am going to die if I have to eat one more hospital meal." Faith nodded her head, she could manage that. "Good, then you can convince my mother that I can come home tonight."

"Oh no, I am not getting in the middle of a battle between you and your mother."

"Quit being such a baby."

Faith couldn't help but feel a little defensive, "I am not being a baby. You are the one who doesn't want to spend another night in the hospital."

Buffy blushed a little, "I am not being a baby about it. It's just…I have only had really bad experiences at hospitals. When I was little my cousin was killed by a demon in a hospital, a demon that only little kids could see. Then, when Angelus was terrorizing me, I got sick and wound up facing that same demon. Not to mention I really don't trust doctors."

"Why's that?" Faith felt excited that Buffy was sharing her personal life with her like nothing happened between the two of them.

Buffy was silent for a moment, "When I was first called, I had a little bit of trouble keeping random words from my parents. I soon discovered that when adults hear you talking about Vampires they tend to think there is something wrong with you. I was admitted into a mental hospital for three days for evaluation. I lied to get them to let me leave, but I really didn't like it there."

Faith couldn't believe what she just heard, "I'm sorry. I…I guess that I can talk to your mom, maybe she'll listen if another Slayer tells her that you're fine."

Buffy flashed a bright smile, "Thank you Faith."

"Anything for you B," Faith said honestly.

Two days later and Faith is watching Buffy sleep in her own bed. She knows that the blonde is better and that she doesn't need to be watched over, but old habit die hard. So here she is, sitting on the window sill watching the only one she ever loved sleep. She knew that she had promised Joyce that she would admit to Buffy that she loved her, but it wasn't an easy thing to do. And Buffy's possible reactions scared the shit out of her.

Just then Buffy rolled over, eyes wide open, smiling confused at Faith. Slowly she sat up, cocked her head, then motioned for Faith to enter. Faith froze, her mind screaming that she should run while her heart demanded that she enter. In the end her heart won, as it always did with Buffy.

"Hey B."

"Hey," Buffy still sounded confused. "Something wrong?"

"No, why?"

The elder Slayer raised an eyebrow, "Oh, I don't know, because for the past two nights you have been outside my window watching me sleep."

Faith shifted uncomfortably, "You noticed?"

"The Slayer connection goes both ways."

Faith nodded her head but didn't say anything; instead she wandered about the room. She refused to make eye contact with the blonde. She knew that if she did she would say something she wasn't ready to say out loud.

"Faith, what is it that you need to tell me?"

"I…I just wanted to make sure that you were ok, that's all."

"Bullshit."

That caused Faith to turn around, Buffy didn't swear. And turning around wasn't such a good idea as Buffy was now standing in her white tank top with no bra on. The dark Slayer found it difficult to concentrate for a moment. And when she was able to speak her voice was huskier than she intended. "I did need to make sure that you were ok. And I just, I needed to be near you."

Buffy looked at Faith and closed her eyes, "I need you to be honest with me Faith, and I want you to answer me truthfully. Do you feel something more between us than just friendship?"

Faith swallowed hard and whispered, "Yes."

Hazel-green eyes fluttered open and a small smile graced the blonde's lips, "Good, because I was afraid that it was just me."

The next thing Faith knew Buffy's lips were pressed against hers in the tenderest kiss she ever had. Faith was so sure that this was a dream she barely responded, scared to break the mirage. When Buffy pulled away Faith felt like her heart was about to explode.

"Faith, stay with me?" Buffy asked shyly, stepping back towards her bed.

Faith stumbled forward, "Always."


End file.
